Important Current Affairs 22nd July 2017

Important Current Affairs 22nd July 2017

Download Daily Gk and Current Affairs PDF (English)

Download Daily Gk and Current Affairs PDF (HINDI)

Current Affairs 22nd July 2017: SPORTS NEWS

Manpreet Kaur wins shot put gold at Asian Grand Prix Athletics Meet

Indian shot putter Manpreet Kaur on 24 April 2017 clinched a gold medal in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix Athletics Meet in Jinhua, China.
●    Manpreet came up with a best throw of 18.86 metre, a national record. In 2015, she made a national record after throwing a shot put at the distance of 17.96 metre.
●    With the win, the shot putter also acquired the No 1 spot in the world rankings.
●    With the performance, Manpreet also qualified for the IAAF World Championships to be held in August 2017 in London, UK.
●    Bian Song of China finished a distant second with 17.96 metres.
 

Current Affairs 22nd July 2017: GLOBAL NEWS

French Senate approves controversial anti-terror bill

Lawmakers in France’s conservative-dominated Senate on 18 July 2017 approved controversial legislation to further strengthen France’s anti-terror laws by a majority vote.
●    The French senators passed the draft bill by a vote of 229 to 106.
●    The Bill will now be sent to the lower house of the National Assembly for a vote in October 2017.
●    The new security laws, a campaign pledge of President Emmanuel Macron, would replace a state of emergency imposed after November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
●    Under the state of emergency measures, authorities have the power to place suspects under house arrest, order house searches, and ban public gatherings without the prior approval of a judge.
●    Under the proposed legislation, some of emergency state practices would become permanent law. 
●    It would turn warrantless property searches and house arrests into common police practice. 
●    However, the step has been criticised by rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which have described it as draconian.
 

Current Affairs 22nd July 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

Telangana government puts cap on weight of school bags

The Telangana government has imposed a cap on the weight of bags carried by schoolchildren in order to prevent any resulting physical effect and anxiety disorder in students.
●    The government issued an official order on 18 July 2017 detailing the allowed weight limit of school bags for students studying in the primary section to those in Class X. 
●    The order has been issued to all the school managements.
●    The maximum weight of a school bag with textbooks and notebooks should not exceed 1.5 kg for children in Class 1 and II and it should not go above 2-3 kg for children studying in Class III, IV and V.
●    The weight limit for students studying in Classes VI and VII is 4 kg, while for those in Classes VIII and IX it is 4.5 kg.
 

Current Affairs 22nd July 2017: APPOINTMENTS

Bharat Arun appointed as Team India’s new bowling coach

Bharat Arun was appointed as the new bowling coach of Team India by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 18 July 2017.
●    The decision was announced during a press briefing held by the newly appointed Indian team coach Ravi Shastri after meeting the four-member BCCI panel.
●    Shastri also welcomed both Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan on board as batting and bowling consultants and said that the contracts of the duo will be finalised by the BCCI officials.
●    He, however, stated that while he is happy to have the services of the former Indian cricketing greats, he wants full-time assistant coaches according to his choice. 
●    He said that he needed someone like Arun to be around the team to see that Zaheer’s suggestions are being implemented.
 

Sanjay Kothari appointed as Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind

Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board Sanjay Kothari was on 22 July 2017 appointed as the Secretary to 14th President-elect Ram Nath Kovind. 
●    Kothari, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, retired in June 2016 as DoPT secretary. 
●    National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Kovind was on 20 July 2017 elected as the President of India, defeating his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rival Meira Kumar in a straight fight.
●    Senior journalist Ashok Malik was named as Press Secretary to Kovind. Malik is at present Distinguished Fellow of the Observer Research Foundation.
●    Senior Gujarat-cadre forest service officer Bharat Lal will be the Joint Secretary to Kovind. 
●    Lal, a 1988-batch Indian Forest Service officer, is at present Resident Commissioner of Gujarat government in Delhi.
 

UK’s first woman Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill elected to Home Affairs Select Committee

Britain’s first woman Sikh Member of Parliament in July 2017 was elected to an influential cross-party panel in the UK Parliament that examines the workings of the Home Office.
●    Preet Kaur Gill, who won the Edgbaston seat for the Labour party in the 8 June 2017 snap general election, was elected to the Home Affairs Select Committee in the UK Parliament. 
●    She will be one of 11 MPs on the cross-party home affairs committee.
●    Gill has also been chosen to lead the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Sikhs, which promotes the interests of Sikhs in Britain.
●    The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

 

Current Affairs 22nd July 2017: OBITUARIES

Chester Bennington, lead singer of Linkin Park, dies

Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park, passed away on 20 July 2017 in California, U.S. He was 41.
●    Bennington apparently hanged himself, which lead to his death.
●    Born on 20 March 1976, Chester Bennington was an American singer and songwriter.
●    He was best known as the frontman for the rock band Linkin Park.
●    He was also the lead singer for Dead by Sunrise and fronted Stone Temple Pilots from 2013 to 2015.
●    He first gained prominence as a vocalist following the release of Linkin Park's debut album, Hybrid Theory, in 2000.
●    In 2005, he formed his own band, Dead by Sunrise, as a side project. The band's debut album, Out of Ashes, was released on 13 October 2009.
●    He has been ranked in the Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists by Hit Parader.
 

Current Affairs 22nd July 2017: ECONOMY

Reliance to buy 25% stake in Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Thursday said that its board has approved to pick around 25 per cent stake in Balaji Telefilms by acquiring 2.52 crore shares for around ₹413 crore.
●    The company’s board has approved making investments in the equity shares of Balaji Telefilms Ltd for acquiring 2.52 crore equity shares constituting 24.92 per cent, Reliance Industries said in a BSE filing.
●    In a separate filing, Balaji Telefilms said its board today considered and approved an investment by RIL through a preferential issue of 2.52 crore equity shares at ₹164 each, aggregating to ₹413.28 crore.
●    The Mumbai-based media and entertainment firm said proceeds from the transaction would be utilised to further speed up content development initiatives, especially for its over-the-top content platform ALTBalaji, to help it compete with other global and India OTT service providers.
●    The decision is, however, subject to Balaji Telefilms shareholder and other approvals.